TK Parent-Teacher Conference

Last week Dave and I met with Drew's Transitional Kindergarten Teacher for his second report card and final conference.

The short and sweet, he's come a long way emotionally/socially since the beginning of the year.  Where she was concerned about his overreaction to issues that arise, he's done a lot better, but she still thinks we need to watch his impulse control - a lot of which is normal for 5 year old boys.   I'll go into the story she shared at the end.

Here's how he's "Graded"
P= Proficient (highest achievement possible)
OT = On Track (age appropriate)
E = Emerging (needs a little work)
AC = Areas of Concern (serious problems)
X - Not Yet Taught/Assessed

There were four categories in which he's graded:
1. Social/Emotional
2. Language Arts
3. Math
4: Physical Development
5: just teacher comments


His previous "grades" are in parenthesis.

1. Social/Emotional:

• Seeks adult help when appropriate - OT (E)
  Notes: He's come a long way, minus the incident the day before the conference (I'll touch on this at the end)
• Engages in cooperative activities with peers - OT (E)
• Exhibits impulse control and self-regulation - E (E)
  Notes: working on this (this goes along with the first bullet point, again to be discussed later)
• Works Independently - OT (OT)
• Participates in group activities - OT (OT)
• Demonstrates caring for others - OT (E)
• Follows Playground Rules - OT (E)
  She made several comments about how Drew is actually too competitive on the playground when he's racing classmates, she'd like him to work on this. I think this is a father/son trait.
• Follows classroom rules and procedures - P (OT)
• Separates from parents/caregivers without stress - P (P)
• Follows Directions - P (OT)

2. Language Arts

• Writes own first name in Titlecase - P (P)
• Uppercase letters 5 10 15 - P (P)
• Lower case letters 5 10 15 - P (P)
• Exhibits beginning sound awareness - P (P)
• Exhibits rhyme awareness - OT (X)
• Listens while others are speaking - OT (OT)
• Shares ideas with others - P (OT)
• Actively engages in writing activities - OT (OT)
• Actively engages in reading activities - P (P)

3. Math

• Understands that numbers represent quantity - P (P)
• Recognizes numbers in random order (0-12) - P (P)
• Uses one-to-one correspondence to count objects (12) - P (X)
• Recognizes common shapes - P (X)
• Counts orally 1-20 - P (P)
• Sorts by one attribute - P (X)
• Extends simple patterns - P (X)

4. Physical Development

• Demonstrates gross motor skills (balance, jump, run, climb) - OT (OT)
• Demonstrates sense of body in relation to others - OT (OT)
• Demonstrates fine motor skills (cut, color, draw) - OT (OT)
• Performs basic self-help/self-care tasks - OT (E)
• Uses Small Manipulatives effectively - P (OT)

5. Trimester Comments

• Drew continues to show good growth in kindergarten.  He loves playing imaginative games with his friends and is well liked.  He is a creative thinker who thinks "outside of the box".  He is a strong student and interested in all areas of the curriculum.  At times he jumps to conclusions, loses a game or race and becomes very upset.  We are working on this.  We will focus on comprehension in language arts and number sense in math.  Keep up the good work Drew!

When we first arrived for our conference his teacher told us about an incident that happened the previous day.  Ironically Drew started telling me his version of it the previous day as well - and changed his tune as soon as he realized I was going to be speaking with his teacher. Funny how that works.

Anyway the incident involved another little boy that was continuously getting in trouble from the teacher put into "time out".  Well on his last time out, he was instructed he no longer could play with the other kids, but had to find something to do independently.  The boy listened like most 5 year olds do, and proceeded to try and interrupt what Drew was doing - apparently playing with some science stuff that involved a timer.  The teacher said she was was unusually busy that day and while she saw the other little boy go over to approach Drew she didn't think much of it until she heard a blood curdling scream.  Apparently Drew started screaming because the little boy snatched the timer out of his hands and then the boys began brawling. (While Drew used to hit kids in preschool he has yet to do it since about the age of 3 or 4).

Well the teacher quickly broke them up and told the one boy he was now in time out for the remainder of the day (10 more minutes of class left).  Drew had 2 minutes, which she said he took and they talked about how while even though the boy made the teacher mad, the teacher didn't hit the boy... even if she thought about it.  Drew took his punishment, but after his time was up, he went to the teacher and said "It should count for something that he hit me too".  Apparently he was punished for not following directions and bothering Drew, not the hitting.  The teacher said she got a good chuckle out of that.

In addition to the story, she went on about how he will still be challenged in Kindergarten, and why he shouldn't advance just to 1st grade (I think she was fielding a lot of questions from parents who thought their kids were ready to move on).  She said he is amazing in reading and math - advanced for his age.  She still said they want to keep an eye on him to ensure he's not just a sight reader, but she's no longer thinking so.  In her opinion he's such a math wizard and language is so high he'll be a CEO when he grows up.

So another great conference!  We've loved having her for our teacher.

And so it's not just a long winded post - here's a little picture of Drew from my phone from earlier this month when he was getting ready to sing Praise Him, Praise Him for the Children's Choir at Church.